Customer Reviews

Raising an Optimistic Child: A Proven Plan for Depression-Proofing Young Children--For Life

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Recently Time Magazine reviewed this book and called it "a fine blueprint for a noble aim: to send out into the world more children equipped to find the beauty all around them." I've just finished reading "Raising an Optimistic child" and I'm determined to change the way I parent my 2 and 5 year olds.

Amazingly this is the only book I can find which is written for parents of kids under six.

The authors - who wrote an earlier best-seller called "Creating Optimism" - eschew the familiar child-centered approach. Rather they take a `relationship-centered' view. What is most important to the emotional well-being of a young child, they say, is the relationships between the adults around him or her, particularly between the parents.

"Raising an Optimistic Child" is solidly how-to. The book has marvelous tips for such issues as work/life balance, dealing with ADD/ADHD, how to select the best child care, how to monitor the sort of media that children are exposed to and how best to work out the problems of blended families or even being a single parent.

At the same time as having a very, very user-friendly style, the authors back up everything they say with really solid research.

I thoroughly recommend this book to all those who are already parents, or who are thinking of becoming parents or are in the position of looking after children.

"Raising an Optimistic Child" has captured the latest and greatest of parenting wisdoms, but that's not all. As a child therapist of 3-5 year olds and a daycare provider of toddlers, I am pleased to say that it has affirmed my intuitions and greatly informed my practice, with children and adults alike.

This book has reminded me once again of the paramount importance of our earliest years, and the caretaking relationships that surround them, in predisposing us to mood disorders later in life. It is a thorough compilation of the key ingredients that make for a healthy human, combining the most up-to-date psychological research, together with all-too-undereferenced ancient wisdoms and some refreshing new "ah-hah's."

Dare I say it? I agree wholeheartedly with most, if not all, of the book, including the authors' de-pathologizing of children and their sensitive examination of the sticky subjects of drugs and over-diagnosed ADD/ADHD.

While very easy to read, the excellent guidance may not be so easy to do. At least the best information is nearly all in one place, as is the optimism to "have a go" at it.

I am so glad I read this book. I can't recommend it highly enough - to parents, teachers, childcare providers, therapists, couples, and adults who struggle with depression and/or other psychological challenges or know someone who does. In short, everyone.

I'll bet there'll be a lot of parents of children over the age of six who'll curse the authors for not bringing out this book earlier! I wish I'd read it twenty years ago. Still I'm now set up to be a really good grand-parent.

"Raising an Optimistic Child" is streets ahead of anything else written about raising optimistic children (and I've been reading a lot of child-raising books lately). It's clear, intensely practical and very simple to follow. In truth much of the information in the book is useful for people of any age who want to be more optimistic - even people like me in their 50s!

I never realized, for example, that a daily 20 minute walk in the park was the best cure for ADD/ADHD in children or adults. My husband has adult ADD and we tried this out - amazingly it really works!

The relationship techniques that Bob Murray and Alicia Fortinberry lay out (and they should know as they have, according to the book, been happily married for nearly a quarter of a century) are practical, simple and again, are really effective. And not just with children!

I'm giving this book to my mom-to-be daughter. It's the best present I could possibly give her - and her baby!

Finally, an easy to read book that approaches child rearing with love, compassion and humanity in a straight forward and honest manner. Teaches how to be and not to be with every turn of the page. So informative and inspiring is "Raising An Optiministic Child" with it's easy to read format, with it's ample examples and it's encouraging approach. It's not only a guide book for child rearing but a book which inspires, gives hope and guidance and reminds us of how we all need to treat children and each other as well as how we all would like to be treated regardless of AGE! A must have book in every home library and in everyone's reading and learning repertoire.

I am not a professional in the field of Psychology. I am a parent that noticed more than a few reflections of sadness in my childs eyes. It occured to me that she may be experiencing depression or just feeling overwhelmed with the preteen issues that faced her. Considering that optimism is so very important, I decided to understand more about optimism, it's beginnings, and how to achieve it more regularly. In reading the book, I now consider how to contribute to an optimistic outcome, rather than expecting that optimism should happen on it's own.
That was a very powerful awakening.

I would recommend this book to everyone, parent or not!!! This book is great for parents who want to do things right with their children, with their signifacant other, and themselves. It's such a concise yet all-encompassing guide on facing your problems and how they affect your children and spouse. They give great, great suggestions on handling all types of issues. If I could, I would buy a copy for everyone I know and say "READ IT!!! This will make everything SOOO MUCH better for everybody!" I am a parent and I will pass this on to my child. I may sound over-enthusiastic but... I could not be more pleasantly surprised!

I have read atleat a dozen parenting books .
This one really stands out because it is mostly about why parents react in a particular way - that is how our own childhood experiences control the way we react to our kids and how to get hold of our legacy parenting .

A must read for every parent who wants the best for their kids.

It is also very HELPFUL in deciding the right age for day care ,preschool and a bible for working moms .